Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948) was one of the most influential European avant-garde artists to come to prominence in the interwar years. Associated at various times with DADA, Constructivism and Surrealism, he produced paintings, collages, sound pieces, sculpture and installation works, as well as journalism, criticism, poetry and short stories.

The exhibition at Tate Britain examines the late work of Kurt Schwitters and focuses on the period from his arrival in Britain as a refugee in 1940 until his death in Cumbria in 1948. Schwitters was forced to flee Germany when his work was condemned as ‘degenerate’ by Germany’s Nazi government and the show traces the impact of exile on his work. It includes over 150 collages, assemblages and sculptures. Among them are an early example of Schwitters’s unique concept of Merz in the assemblage Merz Picture 46 A and other collages which very often incorporate fragments from packaging and newspapers reflecting British life such as the London bus tickets and Bassetts Liquorice Allsorts wrappers used in Schwitter's work Untitled 1942.

Organised by Tate Britain and the Sprengel Museum Hannover in cooperation with the Kurt und Ernst Schwitters Stiftung, Hannover. The exhibition is shown in spring 2013 at the Tate Britain.